NDLEA arrests Brazil returnee with 105 parcels of cocaine on Christmas Day

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it intercepted a Brazil returnee, Agbasi Chux, with 105 parcels of cocaine on Christmas Day.

The drug law enforcement agency in a statement by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the drugs were concealed in candies rolls at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos, on Christmas Day.

According to the NDLEA, the suspect was arrested on 25 December 2022 at the ‘D’ Arrival Hall of the MMIA during inward screening of passengers arriving by Qatar Airways from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The agency added that the arrest followed credible intelligence obtained by the NDLEA after its operatives searched the suspect’s two checked-in bags that contained 105 parcels of cocaine. The cocaine weighed 2.8 kilogrammes and 43 grammes of cannabis.

“An initial search of the suspect’s two checked-in bags almost made him a free man as there was nothing incriminating found there until the NDEA officers took a second look at the duty-free shopping nylon bags containing packs of ‘candies’ he was holding in his hands.

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“A thorough examination of the duty-free shopping bags revealed the packs of candies inside were actually used to conceal 105 parcels of cocaine weighing 2.8 kilogrammes and 43 grammes of cannabis.

“Preliminary test conducted on a plastic bottle of body lotion also found in possession of the suspect also tested positive to cocaine with a total weight of 472 grammes. Married to a Brazilian lady with a daughter, Prosper, who claimed to be into the clothing business in Brazil was hoping to sell the drug in Enugu, his state.”

Other arrests

The NDLEA also announced the arrests of three additional alleged drug traffickers, who were said to have been arrested by its operatives with a total of 256 kilogrammes of illicit substances seized from them during interdiction operations in Kwara, Kogi and Niger States in the past week.

According to the NDLEA, stop-and-search operations on the Ilorin-Jebba route during the yuletide period were mostly used to make the arrests in the two states.

The NDLEA said one of the arrested suspects, Iris Saeed, 19, was intercepted with 60 blocks of compressed cannabis Sativa weighing 30kgs in Niger state.

“While a team of NDLEA officers on stop and search duty along the llorin-Jebba highway on Monday 26′ Dec arrested a suspect, Iris Saeed, 19, with 60 blocks of compressed cannabis Sativa weighing 30kgs, their colleagues in Niger state on similar operation along Jebba-Mokwa road also recovered 240 blocks of the same substance weighing 168 kilogrammes, from multi-colour sacks loaded in a Peugeot J5 bus, with registration number MAG 146 XA, coming from Lagos and going to Kano for delivery.

“In Kogi State, operatives intercepted a truck coming from Onitsha, Anambra state to Maiduguri, Born along Okene-Abuja highway where 9,900 ampoules of pentazocine injection (42kg) were recovered on Saturday 24′ Dec. In the same vein, a suspect, Ibrahim Jibril, 20, was arrested on the same route with 40 blocks of cannabis Sativa weighing 16kgs coming from Lagos to Jigawa in a Toyota Hiace commercial bus on Tuesday 27 December.

“While commending the officers and men of the MMlA, Kwara, Kogi and Niger state Commands for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) CON, OFR urged them along with their compatriots across the country to step up their offensive action against drug cartels in the new year with equal focus on drug demand reduction efforts.”